Liuzzi Returns To The Gold Coast With Tony D’Alberto

Team HIFLEX has recruited Vitantonio Liuzzi for the ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600.

The ex-Formula 1 driver returns for a second crack at the Surfers Paradise street race and will again team up with Tony D’Alberto, the pair having scored a DNF and a 19th last year.

Since losing his seat at the HRT F1 team last year, the 31-year-old Italian has moved to the International Superstars Series, where he currently heads the standings by 19 points with three events remaining.

“I’m really looking forward to be back to the Gold Coast for my second year with Tony D’Alberto,” he says.

“I’m happy to be back in the series that keeps growing and is ultra-competitive.

“V8 Supercars is always a dream category to me because I really enjoyed last year and performance and speed were good so I hope to repeat and become even stronger this year.

“I see that the team and Tony are having a stronger championship than last year so I hope we can aim for a big result this year.

D’Alberto believes a season in the Superstars Series will have prepared Liuzzi for his return to V8 Supercars.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on how he has been going in the Superstars Series, and I’m not surprised to see that he’s leading it,” said D’Alberto.

“When he came out last time, he was a current Formula 1 driver. Now that he has spent the year inside a tin top, I am sure that he will be even more competitive.

“Our results last year really don’t really reflect the speed that he showed over the weekend. He improved every time he went out in the car and wasn’t far off the pace by the end of the weekend.”

Liuzzi’s signing completes the 28-strong international co-driver line-up for next month’s event.

All 28 co-drivers will be in action at a pre-Gold Coast international driver test day on 17 October at Queensland Raceway.

Andy is our resident V8 Supercars reporter. He also runs the V8 Supercars fan site www.v8scglobal.com and works as a freelance motorsport writer (with experience in both the World and British Touring Car Championships). You can find him on Twitter at @andychampness or contact him via his website www.andychampness.co.uk